Brussels

Travel:
After bidding K farewell, headed to the airport for a quick flight to Brussels. The train dropped me right in the heart of things, and I went for a quick stroll. Europe has a distinct aroma, and as I reached the Place Agora it hit me full-force--sort of a mixture of sweet things baking, traces of cigarette smoke, myriad kinds of food cooking, a bit of BO. It is intoxicating. I kept walking and stumbled into the Grand Place quite by accident. It's one of those places that is to beautiful that you kind of stagger back a step when you first see it. My well-thought-out and highly cultured response was, "Holy shit!" It is very reminiscent of St. Mark's in Venice--hard to believe that someone had the vision to make this come to be. Walking on, I headed to the Cantillon Gueze Museum (covered below). I'm now fighting with this French keyboard (keyboard is winning) and my stomach is growling--time to find sustenance...
Tomorrow morning I'll grab a quick train over to Brugges.

Beer:
Cantillon was quite an amazing introduction to traditional brewing in Belgium, and gave me a much better appreciation for what all the fuss is about regarding Gueze and Lambic. Every bottle that they produce has been in production for a minimum of three years, and they definitely produce in the old style. One thing that was news to me was the "cooling tub", a large and shallow copper basin where the wort is cooled and naturally inoculated with something like 84 wild yeasts and bacterias. The room where this tub resides is a microbiologically active place, and somewhat irreplacable, i.e. I imagine a fire would mean the end of Cantillon's products as they are currently produced, since the yeasts and bacterias would also be destroyed. I tasted the gueze, kriek and framboise, and all were somewhat shocking--I am not a big lambic drinker, mind you, but these beers had me wondering how to get some home with me. The signature flavors are well-described by the CAMRA guide--for me, the grapefruit was most noticeable and very enjoyable. Headed now for late lunch and the next "lesson". Bis zum naechst...